Counting attachment for parking meters



Oct. 21, 1947. F vlx/llcg-UELS i 2,429,478

COUNTlNG ATTACHMENT FOR PARKING METERS Original Filed Oct, 30, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 5 j J ,56 n BY y 44 MM Oct. 21, 1947. F. L. MxcHAELs COUNTING ATTACHMENT FOR PARKING METERS Original Filed cf.. 30, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Y 4 .a .ma 2., .y 3mm H 17%, a J1 MM TITIL .w L/ 6.. w nl. m

Oct. Z1, 1947. y F. 1 MICHAELS 2,429,478

COUNTING ATTACHMENT FOR PARKING METERS Original Filed Oct. 30, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 6 C@ "3 /or 99 los /00 gf l2 INVENTOR.

FranlL. Michaels.

fiv'n'vs.

Oct. 21, 1947. F. 1.. MlcHAELs l COUNTING ATTACI'IMIII'.` FOR-PABKING METERS original Filed oci. so, 1941 4 Shets-Sheel: 4

v l I INVENTOR.- l Bylv'zanl L. Miohaels.

Patented Oct. 21, 1947 2,429,478 couNTrNo ATTACHMENT Foa PARKING METERS Frank L. Michaels, Fort Thomas, Ky., The Michaels Art Bronze Company,

assigner to Covington,

Ky., a corporation of Kentucky Original application 417 ,177 Divided 1945, Serial No. 603,142

6 Claims.

The present invention relates to parking meriods within the maximum time for which the meter is arranged to operate. v

A further object of the invention is to provide a manually set parking meter having a` single coinway for the reception of deposited coins of more than one predetermined size and denomination so that a motorist may utilize, for example, either pennies or nickels to prepay a permitted parking period and receive proportionate values in prepaid parking time.

A still. further object o-i the invention is to provide a meter mechanism of the manually set coin controlled type to receive coins of more than one size with different money values and to register the total money value of all deposited coins on a simple counter device.

Another obj-ect of the invention is to provide a mechanism for the foregoing purposesthat is simple in construction and which embodies relatively few moving parts and` at the same time is adaptable to; adjustment for any of a variety of predetermined parking periods.

These and other objects are attained by the means described herein and disclosed'v in the accompanying drawings, in whichr Fig. l is a side elevational view of a meter of the invention with. the supporting standard broken away.

Fig. 2 is an elevational View showing a removable section of the meter casing of Fig. 1 with the mechanism oi the invention attached, the clockwork mechanism being broken away.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional View taken. on line g-S oi Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on line of Fig. 2, but showing in dotted outline the clockwork housing.`

Fig. 5 is a fragmental view of the mechanism of Fig. 2 with the indicator hand and the violation signal and its support removed.

Fig. 6 is a iragrnentalview showing the mechanism of Fig. 5 with the adjustable ratchet hub and the penny control pawl removed, and showing in dotted lines the position of. a deposited coin before manual operation of the handle.

Fig. 7 is a view showing the reverse side of the meter frame plate removed from the casing.

Fig,V 8 is a cross-sectional view taken on line L 3-8 of Fig, 5.

to Fig. 6 showing the.

October 30, 1941, Serial No. and this application July 4,

position oi the parts when initially released by engagement of the coin pusher upon a deposited nickel with the rack in position for actuating the counter to register live units and with a previousl-y deposited coin just released. and passing out of the end oi the coin guide.

Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig'.` 9 but showing the nickel moved to its limit byV the coin pusher, a ratchet hub turned to its limit wherein the indi.- cator is set for a one hour period of operation, and the ratchet returned to normal position after having actuated the comiterV to register ve units,

Fig. 11 shows the position of' parts when initially engaged upon a deposited penny, showing the ratchet positioned to actuate the counter' to reg'- ister one unit. Y

Fig. 12 is a view similar to Fig. 1l, but showing the penny moved to its limit by the coin pusher, the penny control pawl precluding movement of the ratchet hub beyond one-fifth of a complete cycle. l v

Fig. 13 is a view with the mechanism of Fig. 9 modied for use as a two-hour parking meter.

Fig. 14 is a view of the mechanism of Fig. 13 at the beginning of its setting operation. on the rst inserted nickel.

Fig, 15 is a view of the parts oi Fig.. 14 at the end of the setting operation on the iirst nickel and ready for release for operation of the meter or for the further setting operation with a second nickel. Y

Fig. 16 shows the mechanism of Fig. 13 at approximately the limit of setting operation on an inserted penny.

This application is a division of my Cso-pending United States patent application, Serial No. 417,177, led October 30, 1941,l now Patent2,397, 878, and is specifically concerned with the registry in common denominator money unit values of selected diierent coi-ris during the utilization thereof in selectively setting the parking meter.

The meter of the invention. is' housed. a casing 25 mounted on a tubular standard 26. The details of the casing forni no specific part of the present invention but are shown as substantially similar in construction to the casing illustrated in my co-pending application tory a Parking meter, Seriall No. 282,645, led July 3, 1939, now United States Patent No; 2,311,242 of February 16, 1943. The removable` casing section 21 joins the iixed section 28 along the'vertical edges 29 and horizontal bottom; edge 3U. The

`connection between the fixed and ren'iovabflev casing sections is by means' of screws (not shown) post 49 as its radial center.

entering hollow threaded bores 3| in stud posts 32 The posts 32 carry male threads at the remaining ends and these, together with a screw 33, pass through the bores 34-34 and 35 of a ,support plate 36 and secure said plate to the tops of threaded bosses 31 and 38 on the inside face of the casing. Secured on the rear face of the plate 36 is an inclined channel shaped member 38 having anges 48 and 4| riveted to plate 36 and having its top edge 42 flared outwardly for the reception of a coin to be passed therethrough. The bottom edge of channel 39 is cut away as at 43 to provide a coin-inspection station above a forwardly inclined coin discharge tube 44. A sight glass 45 is mounted beyond an aperture 46 in the wall of the casing to provide a telltale sight opening through which a coin may be inspected for the purpose of detecting olenders using slugs for the operation of the meter. The plate 36 and its attached channel shaped member 39 have registering arcuate slots 41 and 48, respectively, disposed on a radius with pivot post 49 as a center. The plate 36 also has an arcuate edge 58 disposed in a radius on the same center, this arcuate edge 58 extending partly across the top of the hollow coin discharge tube 44.

An oddshaped reinforcing plate (see Fig. 5) is secured on the plate 36 at the upper lefthand side and on it are secured the pivot post 49 and a spacer hub 52 through which the screw 33 passes. An odd shaped main lever 53 has a hub 54 secured thereto, which hub is journalled on a thimble 55 of a pawl 56 which has its bearing directly on the pivot post 49. Lever 53 thus swings about post 49 as its pivotal center and it is provided on its outer edges with rearwardly turned lugs 51 and 58, the first mentioned lug 51 extending through the registering slots 41 and 48, while the last mentioned lug 58 may swing in parallelism with the arcuate edge 58 of plate 36 to and from a position blocking the top of coin discharge tube 44. In relatively opposed relation t0 the coin control lugs 51 and 58, the lever 53 has a, parallel offset nger 59 which is disposed in a relatively forwardly relation to the body of the lever." The uppermost end 66 of main lever 53 is normally disposed as a coin released latch, directly in the path of the end 6| of a ange 62 on a coin pusher segment 63. Intermediate the center of pivot post 49 and the end 68 of lever 53 a pin 64 projects through said lever. When the main lever 53 is in the position, for example, as shown in Fig. 5, the pin 64 is in a dead center position on the radius of ange 62 so that the end 68 of the lever positively precludes any appreciable rotation of pusher segment 63 about its axis. On the rear face of lever 53 a grooved roller 65 is suitably journalled on the pin 64. The opposite end of pin 64 projects forwardly through an arcuate slot 66 in the upper portion of pawl 56, said slot also having pivot A coin guide rib 61 formed integrally with the casing section 21 terminates at 68 just above the grooved roller 65 so that a coin 69 entered through opening 1D (see Fig. 2) in the outside of the casing beneath hood 1| may roll down the guide rib 61 and come to rest on the grooved roller 65 where it will also rest against hub 12 of coin pusher segment 63 and in position to be engaged by the end 6| of flange 62. 'I'he coin at this time is disposed between the face of pusher segment 63 and the back of toothed hub 13. A center shaft 14 has the coin pusher segment 63 xedly mounted thereon by the threaded engagement of hub 12, the end of the hub 12 serving to space the toothed hub 13 for the reception of the coin as aforesaid. Exterior operating handle 15 serves to turn shaft 14 and the alxed coin pusher segment 63 and an encircling, concealed coil spring 16 anchored at one end in the casing 21 and at the other end in member 63, urges handle 15 and associated parts in a counterclockwise direction, Integral stop lugs 11 on the casing (see Figs. 5, 8 and 9) cooperate with opposite faces 188 of segmentally shaped extension 18 on the rear of member 63. Toothed hub 13 has a laterally projecting lug 19 which ts loosely into an aperture 86 in an indicator member 8| when the latter is journalled lug 19 whereby a limited amount of lost motion exists between toothed hub 13 and the indicator member 8|. As can be best seen in Fig. 14, the indicator member 8| has a second aperture 84 diametrically opposite the aperture 88 so that toothed hub 13 may be alternatively connected to the indicator member 8| after turning the same through from the position shown, for example, in Fig. 2. The spring member 82 is changed to a relatively opposite position when such adjustment is made. Projecting from the back of indicator member 8| is a pin 85 which is engageable by a forwardly projecting nger 86 on the flange 62 of the coin pusher segment.

From the foregoing it will be noted that in the absence of a coin such as 69 (see Fig. 6) a handle 15 may be rotated in a clockwise (counterclockwise in Fig. 6) direction to move the end 6| o1' ilange 62 on the coin pusher segment into abutment with the end 60 of main lever 53 before the nger 86 can contact pin 85 on the indicator member 8 I. The meter is thus locked against any substantial movement of the handle 15 so that the meter cannot be possibly set without prior deposit of a coin.. When a coin such as 69 is positioned and the handle 15 is turned clockwise by the operator (counterclockwise as viewed in Fig. 6), the segment 63 is turned in a like direction. This causes the coin to push against roller 65 and causes the main lever 53 to pivot about its mounting 49 and thus remove the end 60 from the path of the coin pusher segment. The coin then drops and is arrested by lug 51, while lug 58 releases a previously deposited coin which it had supported at the inspection station 43. When lever 53 returns, the coin 69 drops from lug 51 and is supported by the lug 58.

The degree of rocking movement of main lever 53 is determined by the diameter of the coin so that if a nickel or ve cent coin is deposited, the parts initially assume the position as shown in Fig. 9 where nger 86 is ready to pick up pin 85 for turning the indicator member. The degree of rocking movement imparted to main lever 53 is suincient for the pin 64 to reach the end of slot 61 in pawl 56 and rock said pawl entirely clear of the path of the teeth 81 of toothed hub 13, so that when the handle is manually moved to its limit, the indicator member 8| is moved to the full limit or entirely across to the side 88 of the window opening in the casing. 89 represents an interchangeable dial member which, in the embodiment shown in Figs. 1-12, inclusive, is divided into sixty minutes which constitutes the maxlmum possible setting of the indicator member 8|. Member 88 is mounted in position to be visible below the top of the window by means of screws assente 90. A time mechanism indicated indotted lines at 9| has a gear 92 meshing with the tooth gear portion 93 of indicator member 8|- so that during the setting operation, while the indicator hand 94 is being moved to a setting position by manual operation of the handle 15, the pinion 92 is winding the time mechanism 9|. The hand 94 abuts a screw 95 which is positioned as shown in Fig. 2 whenever the hand is set to the maximum permitted setting. Said screw 95, however, may be adjusted to any of the threaded perforations 96 in order to reduce the maximum permitted setting of the indicator hand, regardless of the size or number oi coins used. Such an adjustment would be resorted to in order to accommodateI the maximum permitted parking period to the normal degree of congestion in a particular area inwhich the meters are installed. In any event, whenever a nickel is pushed through the meter by the end 6| of the coin pusher segment, the. pawl 56 is also retracted far enough to move a projecting n 91 on member 56 sufficiently so that the flange 62 passes below it and, when thecoin drops, the fin 9T will ride on the outside of ange 62 and permit continued manual turning of the segment 63.

Referring now to Figs. 11 and 12, it will be noted that when a penny which is of lesser diameter than the fivey cent coin is inserted in the meter, the end 6|V on segment 63 will engage the penny 98 and in pushing thereon will retire the end 6c of main lever 53 from blocking position but will not move fin 91 on pawl 56 far enough t clear ange 62; hence the passage of the penny beyond the support roller 65 will allow the pawl to forthwith drop back against the toothed' hub after passing but one of the teeth 8T. The toothed wheel returns very slowly in the opposite direction after the handle is released, i. e., at the rate of one tooth each twelve minutes as it is driven by the clockwork. Hence if a second penny is inserted forthwith, and the handle is again actuated, the force necessary7 to operate the mechanism will repeat the lifting of the pawl as said second penny is pushed through and the toothed hub will be advanced another tooth in that lnterval. It is physically impossible to arrest the manual effort so suddenly as to push the penny beyond control and retard the toothed wheel Without advancing one tooth. The progressive setting by the use of additional pennies may be repeated if desired to attain a maximum indicator setting. As can be readily seen in Figs. 5, 6 and 9, a spring 99 has one end hooked on a stud |00 and the other end hooked over the adjacent end of pawl 56. A spring |0| has one end hooked over the stud |00 and the opposite end secured to a pin |02' on main lever 53', thus assuring spring action return of the parts.

From a comparison of Figs. 9' and 11, it will be readily apparent that when main lever 53 is rocked by passage of a ve cent coin, the linger 59 thereof will pass through an appreciably greater arc than in the case of the same nger during the passage of a penny. While the actual difference in the diameters ofA the twoV coins is very slight, i. e., of the order of three thirty-seconds of an inch, the location of the pivot of the lever on the stud 49 is such as to so multiply the amount of movement of finger 59V as compared to the opposite end 60 of the lever as to utilize the same for adjusting a spring pressed rack |03v relative distances so that. it may operate on the pinion |04 of an irreversible counter |05 and cause said counter to register one unit each time thelever is moved by the passage of a penny and to register five units each time the lever is caused to moveV by the passage of a five cent coin. The counter |05, which is of anir suitable or knownl construction, will therefore always register the total value of coins expressed in cents which have passed through the meter regardless of whether such coins have been pennies only, nickels only, or both nickels and pennies. This greatly facilitates the keeping of records and the checking of receipts from the parking meters since the money value ofdeposited coins removed at any collection need merelyl check with the difference between thecur rent reading of the counter and a previous read'- ing of the counter.

Reference is now made to the rack and counter structure shown, for example, in Fig. 1-2l where it will be noted that a horizontal yoke |06 supported on plate 36- has the toothed rack lilla'y vertically movable therethrough. A lug |01 above the toothed section of the rack is adapted for engagement by the linger 59 for raising the rack in accordance with the degree of lifting movement of the finger 59. A guide rod |06 passes through a perforate guide ear m9 and is surrounded by ay coil spring HJ which abuts the lug |01 on the top. A tubular member is-capable of independent reciprocation on rod |08 and is of such inside diameter that an appreciable portion of coilspring l l0 extends into it. An ear l|2 is provided onV the side of member and is normally engaged' by the finger 86v when coin pusher segment G3i is released'. However, asA soon as the coin pusher segment is manually moved, the member may slide upwardly under the influence of the spring ||0 until member i|| abuts |09-, The spring ll U at this time is-fully extended and it requires very little force for finger 59 to raise lug |01. The spring ||0 thus serves as a light snubber `when member III is elevated during removal of linger VBti from the ear ||2 so that the slight degree of movement of rack |83 due to the engagement of finger 59 on the lug |01, preparatory to conditioning the rack for registering one penny, may be accurate and uniform regardless of' whether the operator of the meter has turned the handle '|51 slowly and gently or violently. The movement-of the rack under operation by use of a penny shifts the rack |03 upwardly for the distance of one tooth |3 only and the pinion |04 of .counter |95 remains in mesh therewith during this movement. The counter, being of the irreversible type, the pinion |04 thereof is ratcheted in the customary manner and does not turn the counter on the upstroke of the rack |03. The relatively mild compression of spring ||0 at this point may at times prove insuilcient to drive the rack downwardly in order to turn pinion |04 for a distance of one tooth in order to cause the counter to register one unit. This eventuality is guarded against by reason of the' fact that when the finger 86 of coin pusher 63 returns under the influence of the handle spring, the ear ||2 is engaged and member is pushed downwardly to the -position shown in Fig. 6 so that considerable additional compression is imparted to spring ||U ,to furnish the necessary power or operating the counter. As can be best seenin Figs. 6 and 9, a rack control member H4 may be provided on a Pivot ||5 and is under the influence of a coil spring ||6 which is looped over the pin |00 at one end and around the end of leg H1 at the other. The spring con'- strainsa squared nose portionY |8 to engagement with the side of the teeth H3 of rack |03 to permit raising of the rack and preclude accidental lowering of the rack. Member H4 has a lug ||9 (see Fig. 6) which extends under the edge of member 63. The edge of member 63'is1'slightly.

eccentric with its -pivotal center so thatjwhen member 63 has been turned to the limit of movement under manual setting operation, as is clearly shown, for example, in Fig. 12, the lug ||9 has been depressed against the resistance of its spring ||6 and the nose ||8 has been retracted from the side of the rack |03, thus positively releasing the latter to the action of spring 0. Member I |4 is vital to the proper operation of the machine only in so far as it precludes a well informed person from mischievously rocking main lever 53 back and forth by skillful oscillation of the handle 15 without pushing the inserted coin completely off the roller v65. Such a skilled but mischievous operation, in the absence of the member ||4, would cause an undesired false actuation of the counter. With the structure shown and the parts arranged as in Figs. 2 to-12, inclusive, the depending arcuate dial member 89 would provide for a maximum setting of sixty minutes and would be divided in a well known manner (not shown) into sixty minutes with suitable iigures at intervals indicating stated fractions of an hour. When a penny is inserted and the handle 15 is turned clockwise to its permitted limit, the indicator member 8| would be turned to carry the indicator hand 94 to register twelve minutes. The clockwork or timer mechanism 9| which is always under slight spring power even when at rest, has been wound and the gear train is arranged in well known vfashion so that the return to zero of the indicator hand under the power of mechanism 9| would occur in twelve minutes.

If, however, the device be conditioned with one or more additional pennies and the handle actuated to carry each penny through without allowing any appreciable lapse of time, the several hub teeth 81 would be successively advanced by the succeeding operations so that indicator hand 94 would be advanced an additional twelve minutes or one-iifth of an hour for each of the pennies. A motorist may therefore selectively set the meter by the use of pennies from one-fifth of an hour to and including one hour. This operation willbe well understood in view of the explanation concurrent with the description of the structure.- g

The motorist may also set the meter -for a one hour parking period by the deposit of av nickel. Should the meter be in operation with the hand 94 in some intermediate position, the deposit of an additional nickel will merely serve to move the hand to the one hour limit. Under a similar condition should an additional penny be deposited, it can serve only to move the hand 94 to the nearest one-fifth interval in advance. As clearly disclosed in my hereinbefore mentioned co-pending application Serial No. 282,645, now United States Patent No. 2,311,242 of February 16, 1943, a vertically movable violation signal |20 is arranged to rise before window |2| when the indicator hand 94 is returned tc zero position under the power influence of the time mechanism 9|. The operation of violation signal |20 is effected by pivoting a lever |22 on a fixed pivot |23 closely adjacent one end of the lever and pivoting the opposite end of the lever at |24 upon the bottom of the signal member |20. Counterweight |25 on lever |22 closely adjacent to v pivot |23 allows the signal |20 to have but a slight overbalance of weight which will cause the signal to normally 8 descend. A second lever |26 has its end pivoted at |21 immediately below the pivot |24 and it has a fixed pivot |28 immediately below pivot |23. A pin |29 in the free end of lever |26 is engageable by an arcuate integral finger member |30 formed on the indicator unit 8|. Lever |26 holds the signal at all times in a vertical position, and the engagement of the pin by the finger |30 on the indicator member allows the clockwork `mechanism driving the hand to raise the violation signal with ease at the proper time.

When it is desired to adapt the mechanism just described for use as a two hour limit parking meter, dial 89, which is divided into sixty minutes, is replaced by a structurally similar dial divided into one hundred twenty minutes. The clock mechanism 9|, which is a unitary structure removably mounted by its extended flange |3| and screws |32 on brace member |33, is replaced by an exteriorly identical clockwork mechanism which is powered and geared for two hour operation. The toothed hub 13 is released from the indicator member 80 and turned through 180 and then reassembled by pressing the lug 19 in the aperture 84 which is farthest from the hand 94 changing the location of the spring 82, all as shown in Fig, 14. The back plate 36 has a pair of forwardly cxtending spacer posts |34 and |35 riveted thereto and on the shouldered forward ends of these posts the brace member |33 is secured by means of screws |36 (see Figs. 2, 3 and also Fig. 4). In assembling the modified form of the device of Figs. 13 to 16 inclusive, a pawl |31 is mounted on post |35 prior to reassembling brace member |33. Pawl |31 has a pin |38 fixed therein and extending rearwardly-in the path of the end 60 of main lever 53 so as to be engaged by said end of the main lever to raise the slender point |39 of pawl 31 high enough to clear the coin pusher B30 which corresponds to the hereinbefore described coin pusher 63 save that the flange 620 is shouldered at 62|. This degree of movement of the end 60 of lever 53 occurs when a nickel is passed through lthe device. The end of pawl 56 will enter the notch |40 in the toothed wheel and arrest the indicator member 8| in a center position intermediate its limits of movement when the rst nickel is used. When a second nickel is deposited forthwith without allowing any appreciable time to elapse for operation of the meter, the coin pusher 630 again raises pawl |31 and the element 56 is removedfrom the notch |40 so that the indicator member 8| is picked up at the half-way mark and carried to the full two hour setting limit, It'will be readily appreciated that the counter-actuating rack will have been operated through its cycle to cause the counter to register five units on each of said operations.

As shown particularly in Fig. 16, the operation of the meter on an inserted penny will move the end 60 of main lever 53 suiciently to clear `the end 62| of the coin pusher flange but insufficiently to raise the point |39 of pawl |31 above the level of arcuate flange 620 of the coin pusher so that the cut away shoulder 62 abuts the end of pawl 31 and limits the degree of movement of the indicator member 8| to twelve minutes. The modified form of,v device will therefore afford a motorist an opportunity to set the meter for twelve minutes by the use of one penny or it may be set for one hour by the use of one nickel or for two hours by the use of two nickels in succession. It will be noted that in the modified struc- .ture shown in Figs. 13-16 inclusive, the point or 9 iin 139 on member i3? cooperates with the pusher 63) and the plurality of teeth on the toothed hub 'F3 are not effective. The fin Sl on pawl EQ is thus inoperative to influence the operation of the device under these circumstances and may be removed as specifically shown in Fig. 16.

Regardless of the specific adaptation of the mechanism to a selected series of permissible setting operations, the single lever element 53 unfailingly integrates and synchronizes all phases of the coin control, viz., the release of the pusher, the proper dispatch of a previously deposited coin from the inspection station and the counting of the coin passing through the meter to the inspection station. The same lever element 53 controls the operation of the pawl on the toothed hub and is thus a vital element in apportioning the extent of setting movement of the indicator with relation to the size of the coin deposited.

What is claimed is:

1. In a parking meter, the combination of means to direct deposited coins of predetermined different diameters and values through a common path, a manually operable pusher including an arcuate frange movable across said path, a lever pivoted adjacent its top end with said top end normally in the path of said flange to arrest manual movement of the pusher, a projection on the lever normally extending into the path of the coins for arresting the lowermost of one or more selectively deposited coins in position for movement by the pusher flange whereby movement of the coin by said pusher shifts the projection aside for a distance determined by the diameter of the coin and eiects a'corresponding rocking movement of the lever about its pivotal mounting in one direction, a finger on the lever, a rack member operable away from a normal starting position by said finger during said movement of the lever, means to move the lever in the opposite direction, means to return the rack to its normal starting position, and a counter including an operating pinion meshing with said rack.

2. In a parking meter, the combination of a pivoted lever, a lateral extension near the top end of the lever, a manually rotatable pusher including a hub and an arcuate flange, the said extension and the said hub cooperating to arrest the lowermost of one or more selectively deposited coins of predetermined dierent diameters and values, said ilange engageable on such arrested coin for rocking the lever for a mined by the diameter of the coin and means comprising an irreversible counter and a spring urged rack in driving relation thereto, said rack operable, against the resistance of its spring, by rocking movement of the lever for registering a predetermined number of units determined by the number and extent of rack movements initiated by said selectively deposited coins in passing through the meter under the influence of said pusher.

3. In a manually operable parking meter, the combination of means for arresting the lowermost of selectively deposited coins of predetermined diferent diameters at a common position, a manually operated pusher for engaging said coins singly and successively and displacing the coin arresting means different distances deterdistance deter` mined by the diameter of the coin thus engaged, a counter, and means comprising a lever rockable by the coin arresting means and a spring urged rack conditionable by movement of the lever whereby the counter is actuated to register a predetermined number of units differing with said diierent predetermined diameters of the coins.

4. In a manually operable parking meter, the combination of means for successively arresting deposited coins of predetermined diierent diameters at a common position, a manually operated pusher for successively engaging said coins and displacing the coin arresting means diierent distances determined by the diameter of the coin thus engaged, a counter, means comprising a lever rockable by the coin arresting means and a spring urged rack conditionable by movement of the lever whereby the counter is actuated to resister a predetermined number of units diiering with said different predetermined diameters of the coins, means for holding the rack in retracted position against the resistance of its spring as positioned by said lever, and means on the pusher to release said holding means on predetermined movement of the pusher.

5. In a manually operable parking meter, the combination of means for successively arresting deposited coins of predetermined different diameters at a common position, a manually operated pusher for successively engaging said coins and displacing the coin arresting means different distances determined by the diameter of the coin thus engaged, a counter, means comprising a 1ever rockable by the coin arresting means and a spring urged rack conditionable by movement of the lever whereby the counter is actuated to register a predetermined number of units differing with said different predetermined diameters of the coins, means for holding the rack in retracted position against the resistance of its spring as positioned by said lever, means on the pusher to release said holding means on predetermined movement of the pusher, and a guided member operating on the rack spring and controlled by the pusher whereby the pressure of the spring on the rack is relieved when the pusher is manually actuated and whereby said pressure is restored on the rack by return of the pusher.

6. In a device of the class described, the combination of means for arresting the lowermost of selectively deposited coins of predetermined different diameters at a common position, a manuall'y operated pusher for engaging said coins singly and successively whereby the coins are moved and cause the coin arresting means to be displaced dierent distances determined by the diameter of the coin thus engaged, a rockable lever having said coin arresting means Xed thereon, a counter device including an operating pinion, a movable rack meshing with the counter pinion, said rack being so related to said lever as to be moved thereby in one direction for selected distances corresponding to the movement of the lever for setting the counter pinion to predetermined positions, and means for moving the rack in the opposite direction for actuating the counter by said pinion.

FRANK L. MICHAELS.

Certicate of Correction Patent No. 2,429,478. October 21, 1947. FRANK L. MICHAELS It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent re uiring correction as follows: Column 10 line 20, claim 4, the Word resister shold be register; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent OIice.

Signed and sealed this 20th doy of January, A. D. 1948.

THOMAS F. MURPHY, y

Assistant Uommz'ssoner of Patents. 

